Jars of honey, sponge cake rolls, and tea for votes in favor of the "Victory" bloc

On 12.09.2024, Dubina Evghenia, a supporter of the political Bloc “Victory”, allegedly encouraged and transported voters from the village of Palanca, Stefan Vodă district, to the café “La Marina” in the city of Stefan Vodă, where a meeting took place with political speeches related to the presidential elections and the referendum on 20.10.2024. The court found that she gave Voloh Tamara and Voloh Alexandru goods consisting of two jars of honey weighing 130 g, two sponge cake rolls, and a package of tea “Princess Noori”, to influence the exercise of electoral rights in favor of the candidate supported by the “Victory” Bloc and the “NO” option in the referendum.

First instance: Conviction
Appeal: Not applicable / unknown
Review: Not applicable / unknown

Relevant case for the form of “giving goods and services” of art. 181¹ CC, in which the court qualified both the transportation to the political meeting and the offering of low-value food items as electoral corruption. Evidentiary particularity: witnesses reported that the accused did not fully coordinate the event and did not impose explicit voting conditions; however, the court valued the electoral context, political speeches, organized transportation, and the handing over of bags with goods. The court applied the minimum monetary fine retained in practice for similar cases and did not order confiscation.